The Colour Series
by mmouse15
Summary: Stories from challenges from the LJ comm twins x ratch.  Sunstreaker, Sideswipe, and Ratchet build a relationship.
1. Electric Blue

Title: Electric Blue

Characters: Ratchet, Wheeljack, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker  
>Prompt: High-grade. Written for the Oct 11 twins_x_ratch challenge.<br>Notes: _Italics_ indicate a flashback.

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><p>Ratchet walked into his office, his optics going to the credenza next to his desk. Yes, there is was. A container full of swirling electric blue energon, with a gorgeously etched crystal cube beside it, ready for the energon. Ratchet moved around his desk, sliding into his chair and lifted the flagon carefully, bringing it up to his olfactory sensors. The smell of ozone and energy filtered through his processor, his systems cycling up for the excess energy his processor was expecting.<p>

Ratchet picked up the exquisite cube and poured a measure of high grade into the glass before putting the flagon back and leaning back in his chair for the first sweet sip.

The taste exploded in his mouth, energy coursing through his body as he allowed the liquid to flow down to his tank. Ratchet sank a little deeper into his chair, savouring the smell and the taste and the sense of ease the flowed over his body along with the boost of extra energy.

Ratchet continued to sip at the energon as he thought about the conversation that had occurred out in medbay as they were cleaning up.

_"Thinking about that high grade, Ratchet?" Wheeljack teased as he scrubbed dried energon off a berth. They cleaned as they went, but this had been Sunstreaker's berth, where Ratchet had worked frantically to keep the frontliner alive and not bleeding out from having both legs torn off by Thundercracker and Skywarp. The only thing that had stopped the two Seekers from tearing Sunstreaker in half was Sideswipe, who'd used his jet pack to get above them, then dropped down, his momentum almost ripping one wing off Skywarp. Thundercracker had dropped Sunstreaker to save Skywarp, and Sideswipe had caught his brother before firing up the jet pack and heading straight to Ratchet. Ratchet had worked frantically, sealing off the main energon lines from Sunstreaker's trunk, but the tension and torque he'd been subjected to had caused microtears along many of his lines, and he'd continued to lose energon at an alarming rate. Ratchet had shut everything else out, focusing on saving Sunstreaker. He would never admit this to anyone, but the twins held a special place in his spark. They were wild when not in battle, but focused and disciplined in the midst of mayhem on the battlefield, and for some reason, Ratchet always found himself watching for them and worrying about them. He continued clamping the biggest tears while First Aid rigged an energon drip to help replace the energon Sunstreaker was losing._

_Fortunately, Optimus had gained the upper hand over Megatron and the retreat had been called, which allowed Ratchet to load Sunstreaker into Prime's trailer and work on him as Optimus towed them back to the Ark. Other injuries had come back as they could, Ironhide carrying some, Inferno carrying others, everyone helping the wounded back._

_At the Ark, Ratchet had started prepping Sunstreaker for surgery in the hallway as he was transferred to a berth and taking to medbay. Hoist had taken charge of the triage, sending the less wounded to Wheeljack and Perceptor, while the more injured were taken to First Aid and after triage, to Hoist. Grapple had stepped forward and helped comfort those still waiting._

_The medical team had worked quickly and quietly, but Ratchet had started hoping his mysterious benefactor was not amoung the injured and his by-now expected container of high grade would be waiting for him at the end of the day. He hadn't expected that Wheeljack would pick up on his hope, but he should have known that somehow, he was being obvious. He and 'Jack had been friends for far too long to hide much from each other._

_"Pipe down, 'Jack, and get that berth clean." Ratchet said, focusing on cleaning his tools and slotting them back in their proper spots._

_"Yeah, yeah, Ratch, I'm cleaning. I just hope you don't get too energized off that high grade." Wheeljack bent back to his task._

_"High grade? What's that?" the voice came from the medbay doors, and everyone looked over to see Sparkplug Witwicky enter the medbay._

_"Hey, Sparkplug! I'm almost done here, gimme a couple of minutes and we can go work on your solar panels." Wheeljack tossed over his shoulder, renewing his attack on the dried energon._

_"Take your time, 'Jack, and do the job properly so you don't have to redo it." Sparkplug said genially. He climbed the ladder installed for just that purpose, clambering up onto the counter that ran around most of the medbay and making himself comfortable on a box of parts. "So, Ratchet, what's this high grade stuff?"_

_Ratchet enjoyed sharing bits and pieces of Cybertronian lift, answered readily. "It's a more concentrated form of energon, Sparkplug. It kind of gives a rush if you're not used to it, but it really helps the systems get charged up."_

_"Sounds like booze," Sparkplug said, "or drugs."_

_Ratchet's optics flickered as he looked up Sparkplug's references. He answered, "No, neither of those. It's more like concentrated food, like the honey your long distance runners like to use. It's energy that doesn't need a lot of processing from our systems, so it gets the energy out quicker."_

_"Still gives you a rush, though." Wheeljack observed._

_Ratchet shrugged, "Only because I'm pretty depleted by now, 'Jack."_

_Wheeljack did a final swipe over the berth and cleaned up his supplies before scooping Sparkplug up and heading out. "You tell yourself that, Ratch. Me, I think it IS more like alcohol to you."_

Ratchet thought about what 'Jack meant. He was addicted to this particular ritual, but it was more that someone had been leaving him this high grade since they'd awoken from their long stasis, and Ratchet enjoyed the feeling that someone cared about him enough to leave him this excellent high grade. Not only leave it for him, but leave a special cube to drink it from, and somehow sneak it into his office so it was waiting for him. Someone cared enough to…Ratchet shook his helm, dislodging that thought from his processors. He wasn't lonely, he had plenty of friends and compatriots, plenty of mechs who cared about him as more that the head medic of the Autobot army. He didn't miss sharing a berthroom with someone, waking up cuddled with someone, interfacing…

Ratchet put the cube down and buried his face in his hands. He did miss that companionship. He missed being in a relationship. He missed having someone in his life that cared about him, that thought about him, that he could care about and lavish his own attention and love upon.

Rolling his head, Ratchet checked the monitors. Sunstreaker was the only patient left and he was in a private room, Sideswipe by his side, holding his hand. He envied the twins their constant closeness. Spark split twins were rare, but Ratchet had seen enough of them to know that they were always there for the other, and he wished for that closeness in his own life.

Sideswipe looked up at the camera lens with that uncanny ability he had, and Ratchet jerked his optics away from the screen and poured himself some more. Yes, Wheeljack was right. He did use the excess energy from the high grade like a human used alcohol – to get his processor so energized that it was muddled, so he didn't have to think about how lonely he was, about what he was missing in his life. He took another swig, intent on finishing the flagon tonight rather than speading it out over several Earth rotations.

A black hand covered his as he reached for the flagon and he turned to look at Sideswipe.

"I think you've had enough, Ratchet." Sideswipe said quietly.

Ratchet shook his head, "Not enough, I still remember."

Sideswipe grinned, "I have better ways of letting you forget. C'mon, Ratch, let's get you to your berth. Sunny's fine, he's just recharging."

Ratchet allowed himself to be drawn to his feet, following the red twin out of his office, which automatically locked behind him, and out of the medbay to his berthroom right down the hall. He sent the code to his door as they approached and the door slid open just as they reached it. He turned to thank Sideswipe but was pushed back into the room as the frontliner crowded him in.

The door slid shut behind Sideswipe, but the lights didn't come on since Ratchet hadn't sent the command. The only illumination was from their optics as they gazed at each other.

"We've waited too long." Sideswipe said. He sounded grim.

"What?" Ratchet had no idea what Sideswipe was talking about.

"Me 'n Sunny. We waited too long." Sideswipe said, as if that explained everything.

"Waited too long for what?" Ratchet was feeling as if he'd consumed all the high grade instead of a quarter of it. He couldn't grasp what Sideswipe was saying.

Sideswipe answered him by pulling him close and kissing him. The flare of energy Ratchet felt from the point of contact was astonishing. He responded by reaching up and pulling Sideswipe's helm closer, increasing the friction between their lip plates. Had he thought about it, his own reaction would have stunned him and terrified him.

"Ratchet?" Sideswipe asked, pulling back slightly.

"Never thought…you, the high grade?" Ratchet asked, his hands moving over Sideswipe's head and shoulders frantically.

"Yeah, we wanted to take care of you somehow." Sideswipe scooped Ratchet up and held him.

Ratchet broke. He wanted someone to take care of him, he'd envied the twins, and they were the ones who'd figured out how to give him something that was just for him. He'd never dared hope that they would be interested in him, so he'd never let himself lose control, never let himself look, never let himself stray outside the boundaries the twins seemed to have around themselves. Now he was being invited inside that boundary, and all his hopes seemed to explode out of the packet he'd compressed them into and he couldn't control himself, shaking as his world rearranged itself around these new facts.

Sideswipe held him close through the emotional storm, until Ratchet was exhausted. He then steered Ratchet over to the berth and coaxed him into lying down, then curled around him and held him as Ratchet drifted into recharge.

The door opened and Sunstreaker stalked in, making his way to the berth and curling up around Ratchet on the other side from Sideswipe. Ratchet should have been startled, but somehow, this seemed so right, so much what he needed, that any protest died before being spoken. The warmth of the two mechs lulled him into recharge.

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><p>Ratchet's internal alarm went off, warning him that it was time to pull himself out of recharge. He allowed his systems to slowly boot up, basking in the unaccustomed warmth and feeling of well-being. Obviously, he hadn't grievously overcharged last night, but why wasn't he cold? He usually was as his systems worked to dispel the excess charge and his self-repair worked overtime, but today he was warm and drowsy and feeling better than he had in ages.<p>

Part of the warmth on his abdomen shifted and Ratchet's optics flared as he booted them up, hard.

Sunstreaker was nose-to-nose with him, and grinned as Ratchet focused and saw him.

"Good morning, Ratch." Sunstreaker placed a quick kiss on his lip plates, then rolled over and off the berth.

"Good morning, Ratchet." Sideswipe turned Ratchet's head and placed his own kiss on his lips, then sat up.

Ratchet immediately missed the warmth of their bodies and shivered.

Sunstreaker came back to the berth with a cube of regular energon as Sideswipe coaxed Ratchet into sitting up. Sunstreaker handed him the cube and sat down next to him.

To buy time, Ratchet slowly drank the cube. When he was done, Sunstreaker held out a hand and Ratchet handed him the cube. Sunstreaker collapsed the cube and tucked it into his subspace.

Ratchet drew in a deep draught of air. "Now what?"

Sideswipe answered for him. "Now, you go to your shift, we go to ours, and we talk tonight, when nobot's overcharged and we can figure out if we want the same things."

Ratchet nodded. "OK."

Sideswipe stood and waited. Sunstreaker put his hand up and tilted Ratchet's face toward him, examining him in minute detail before leaning forward and placing a gentle kiss on Ratchet's lips. He pulled back afterward and the twins left in a flurry as Ratchet sat there, stunned at the depth of feeling he'd gotten from Sunstreaker.

He had no idea what was going to happen, but he was looking toward the future with a lot more optimism that he'd had the previous day.


	2. Mellow Yellow

Title: Mellow Yellow

Warnings: mentions of former noncon, violence

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><p>When Ratchet came off shift and headed back to his berthroom, Sunstreaker was leaning against the wall next to his door, one foot against the wall, the other on the floor, his arms folded across his chest. He looked both threatening and patient, and Ratchet wondered at the dichotomy. His thoughts had strayed often during his shift to the twins and their actions of the previous night.<p>

Sunstreaker looked up and caught Ratchet's optics. He became tense for a fleeting moment, then relaxed again. If Ratchet had shuttered his optics, or looked away, he would have missed the relief that passed over Sunstreaker's face at that moment.

Knowing he wasn't the only one worried about this conversation eased Ratchet's processor, and he moved forward more readily and sent code to the door mechanism, sweeping his arm before him to indicate that Sunstreaker should precede him into his room. Sunstreaker peeled himself off the wall and sauntered into the room, looking around before taking a seat in the only straight chair in the room.

Ratchet closed the door after entering the room. He made his way to the small wash basin in the corner and used a cloth and a mirror to clean his faceplates and take a quick swipe across his chestplates before taking a seat on the edge of the berth.

Sunstreaker was sitting in the chair the wrong direction, his arms folded across the back and his chin resting on his forearms, as he watched Ratchet clean the grime of the day from his faceplates. As Ratchet settled on the berth, Sunstreaker traced his form with his optics, admiring the way he was built and the way he moved.

Ratchet shifted nervously under the scrutiny.

Sunstreaker stood suddenly and Ratchet froze. Sunstreaker came over to Ratchet, sinking down in front of the mech and kneeling in front of him. They stared at each other for a long moment, then Sunstreaker slowly reached out and began to trace Ratchet's face, using his thumbs to trace the join of his cheek plates, the indentation of his optical sockets, the line of his olfactory receptors, down to his lip plates and over his chin before tracing the edges of his helm, up to his chevron, which Sunstreaker carefully outlined before sliding his hands back along the sides of Ratchet's helm, down his neck to his shoulders, then over his chest to the hands clenched tightly in his lap.

Still keeping his optics on Ratchet's, Sunstreaker bent down, breaking optic contact at the last moment, and placed a lingering kiss on Ratchet's hands.

"You're beautiful." Sunstreaker murmured, both hands cupping around Ratchet's hands.

Ratchet found he couldn't exchange air, so caught up in Sunstreaker's fascination that he wasn't venting. A flashing warning on his HUD finally caught his attention long enough for him to expel the heated air and vent in cooler air.

It didn't stop him from continuing to look at Sunstreaker.

"Always thought so," Sunstreaker continued, "and you care, Ratchet, and we don't get that from many mechs, and you put us back together after we get slagged and Primus, you're gorgeous."

Ratchet squirmed, "My form is no more pleasing than anyone else that has this frametype."

Sunstreaker chuckled, a low laugh that sent spikes of excitement through Ratchet's circuits. "Yes, it is. The way you move, the way you care…all wrapped up in _you_, Ratchet. It makes you so attractive to me."

"Oh," was all Ratchet could manage.

"Yeah." Sunstreaker replied, bending his head and placing another kiss on Ratchet's hands.

Ratchet found his hands trembling as he extricated them from Sunstreaker's grip. Sunstreaker took it wrong, but Ratchet moved quickly and clasped his hands over Sunstreaker's helm fins, holding him in place.

He then did his own exploration, tracing Sunstreaker's face. The warrior was beautiful, but Ratchet had always felt that he was not as confident as he appeared, that Sunstreaker was bluffing his way through life, and as he traced over Sunstreaker's features, he whispered why he found him so beautiful.

"Your optics…always watchful, always looking. Your mouth…so beautiful in rest, so grim in battle. Your face…such classical beauty, made even more beautiful by being yours, Sunstreaker…"

Ratchet continued his litany, tracing over features that drew ventilations from Sunstreaker, finally bending down and slowly fitting their lips together as he'd seen Spike do to Carly.

As Sunstreaker shifted closer to Ratchet, which pushed his lips into Ratchet's, Ratchet figured out why the humans engaged in kissing. The friction was exquisite, sending flames along the neural pathways and causing him to wrap an arm around Sunstreaker's helm to pull him closer. Such a foreign custom, but it felt so good!

Sunstreaker was already moving, surging up and picking Ratchet up, rearranging them so Sunstreaker was the one sitting on the berth and Ratchet was sitting across his lap, his helm tucked into Sunstreaker's arm as the warrior bent over him.

A quiet whistle caused Sunstreaker to lift his head and they both looked toward the door.

Sideswipe was just inside the door, and Ratchet gave a hazy thought to how the twins seemed to be able to hack through his lock at will before losing all thought as Sideswipe came over, the door finally sliding shut behind him, and joined them.

Sunstreaker shifted on the berth and Sideswipe clambered up with them, putting his legs on the outside of Sunstreaker's. Ratchet was now lying across both laps as the twins reached out and pulled each other closer, sandwiching Ratchet between them as they crossed their arms behind his helm and across his abdomen.

"Comfy?" Sideswipe asked in faux concern.

"Oh, indeed." Ratchet answer, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we do need to talk. Yes, Sunshine, we do." Sideswipe addressed his brother as the yellow twin twitched.

"Why?" Ratchet asked.

"Because otherwise, you and Sunshine here will jump straight into interfacing, and you won't understand us, and when something doesn't go the way you think it will, you'll yell at us and it will upset Sunny so much that he won't forgive you and we will have blown our chance to build a real relationship and you'll have blown your chance to have the pair of us."

Ratchet gawped at him. "I…beg your pardon?"

Sideswipe growled slightly before replying. "We're interested in you, Ratchet. Have been for a long time. After we came out of stasis, we couldn't figure out a good reason to hold back any longer, so we started courting you. Sunstreaker made the crystal cube for you and I brewed the high grade. We couldn't think of anything else that you wanted, but we were hoping…" his voice trailed off and he shrugged, looking away in embarrassment.

"Rushing it, bro," Sunstreaker said. "that's not how you're supposed to court somebot."

"OK, then, you do it!" Sideswipe snapped back.

"I was, and you interrupted." Sunstreaker stated.

Ratchet put his hands on their shoulders and pulled himself out from between them. "That's quite enough. Why would the pair of you be interested in somebot like me? I work too often and I've lost my compassion and…"

He was interrupted by Sunstreaker, yanking on his chestplates and pulling him down into another kiss.

"You haven't lost your compassion. You've lost the time to mourn properly for those you lose, but your compassion is still there, Ratchet, and still potent." Sunstreaker was fierce in his defense.

Ratchet reached out, trembling again, to touch him. "Sunstreaker."

"Whoa, whoa, no more of that," Sideswipe said, yanking Sunny back. "we're still not communicating in WORDS."

Chastened, Ratchet and Sunstreaker sat down on either side of Sideswipe.

"Sunny, we need to tell Ratchet about us." Sideswipe pleaded.

Sunstreaker hunched his shoulders, turning away from Sideswipe and Ratchet. Sideswipe kept his gaze on Sunstreaker, a plea in his optics until Sunstreaker nodded jerkily.

Sideswipe turned to Ratchet and said, "We need to tell you about us, OK?"

Ratchet nodded.

Sideswipe continued, "We're spark-split twins. You already know that, of course, but it's not a common thing at all. Our carrier was a pleasurebot, and he was peeved that he had to stop working for the last couple of orns before we were decanted. However, he was the favorite pleasurebot of a wealthy politician, and he managed to convince that politician that we were his spawn. He was very proud of us, but of course, he had a family already. He'd married for political reasons, and his mate was rich and powerful in his own right. So our creator kept us on the side and paid for a nice apartment near the Iacon center. He paid for our upgrades and for a tutor and for a room that was soundproofed where we'd stay when our creator entertained clients. He paid for various lessons and was an indulgent creator when he was around. He liked us, and our carrier, being no fool, always made us available for him and lived his life around Creator. Then Megatron came along, and our creator was one of the senators killed in the coup. Our carrier sold everything and moved us to Praxus. He'd invested well and was able to get work in a body shop that catered to the well-to-do. We had to go to a regular school, but we didn't starve."

Sideswipe reached over and put his hand on Sunstreaker's shoulder. His brother moved into the one-armed hug a little bit, and Ratchet braced himself.

"Then the war came to Praxus. We'd just gotten our final upgrades and were at the university in Iacon when word came of the attack on Praxus. Our carrier was killed. We were able to tap into the banking system and withdraw most of his credits."

Sunstreaker took up the tale. "We used the credits to upgrade to warrior class armour. We could see that war was coming, and we wanted to be prepared."

"So we upgraded, got weapons systems installed, and then found the gladiator pits in Kaon. It was a good place to learn to fight." Sideswipe was growing tenser, and Ratchet worried that he'd snap cables if tensed up any more.

"We learned fast, and we had virus protection that allowed us to duck the slave protocols that were passed around like cheap energon in the gladiator pits." Sunstreaker added.

Sideswipe shrugged his shoulders, visibly working out the tension. "We…joined the Autobots because Sunstreaker had a run in with a Decepticon and took a dislike to the whole faction. Otherwise, I think we might have become Decepticons."

Sunstreaker disagreed. "No, we wouldn't. We valued individual freedom a lot more than that. Megatron believes in freedom for himself. Everyone else has to do what he says. We would have broken away if we'd ever joined."

Ratchet interjected. "I already know all this from your files. There's got to be more."

The twins exchanged a long look. Ratchet figured he'd already passed a test simply by still being here and still listening to them.

"Yeah, there's more." Sunstreaker was now the tense one.

Sideswipe wrapped his arms around his brother. "This isn't in our medical files, Ratchet, and you can't tell anyone."

Ratchet opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off by Sunstreaker's roughened voice.

"No one, Ratchet. Ever."

Ratchet thought about that stricture. Could he abide by a promise that was given in a vacuum, not knowing what it pertained to?

He finally answered, "I promise to not tell unless it is against my fundamental coding as a medic or as an Autobot."

The twins looked at each other, and Sunstreaker nodded.

Sideswipe drew a deep draught of air. "We were…Sunstreaker was spark-raped by Megatron. He was using it to force soldiers into bonds with leading Decepticons and get them away from Autobots. He didn't care if there was compatibility, he just wanted them bonded. That's why so many of the Decepticons are insane, they're bonded to mechs they don't care about."

Ratchet was horrified on multiple levels, his HUD flashing with coding conflicts. "That's…what happens if the bondmate dies?"

Sideswipe smiled, and it was a brutal rictus. "They're forcibly bonded to another mech."

"The insanity…" breathed Ratchet.

"Yeah…" Sideswipe said.

Ratchet thought about this information. "Does Autobot command know about this?"

The twins nodded. Ratchet nodded in return. "Good. That takes care of that. Why didn't it work for you?"

"Spark-split twins?" Sideswipe prompted. "He had Sunny, he didn't have me."

Ratchet looked at both mechs, then asked softly, "Who had you?"

Sideswipe laughed, and Ratchet winced at the hollowness. "Shockwave, of course."

Ratchet pulled at them both, hugging them fiercely. "And you got a way and joined the Autobots and deal as much destruction as you can on the Decepticons."

"Yes," Sideswipe replied, "in the short version."

Ratchet asked, "What's the long version?"

"We're still dealing with it." Sunstreaker answered, his voice low and rough.

Ratchet held them closer, his spark aching for what the twins had gone through. It was horrifying to think the Decepticons had fallen so low, using bonds in a manner they were never intended, but worse to think people he knew had gone through such an awful experience. He continued to hold them close until Sideswipe shifted away. Sunstreaker still clung to Ratchet, though, as if he was afraid Ratchet would disappear if he didn't hold onto him.

Gradually, however, Sunstreaker was able to let go, and Ratchet seated himself between them.

"So. Now I know. Why do I need to know, other than you should have told me this years ago as part of your medical documentation." Ratchet was curious.

Sideswipe pulled his legs up and rested his chin on his knees. "Because you have to understand why we go off the deep end sometimes. We get out there and we fight and someone like Skywarp or Blitzwing will make a comment that now they know that they should have forced both of us at the same time, and we kind of lose control and beat the slag out of whoever is in front of us."

Ratchet nodded. "Then you come back here and fall apart."

"Yeah." Sunstreaker said. "It takes us days to get over it, too."

"Prowl knows," Sideswipe added, "that's why we usually get long range patrols together after a battle, or don't have duty at all for a couple of days."

Ratchet asked, "What do you want me to do on those days?"

"Be with us, but don't…don't expect us to be very responsive. We're pretty much a mess and we tend to cling to each other." Sideswipe told him.

Ratchet vented deeply. "OK, I can do that. I always need down time after a big battle, too, so this will be interesting."

Sunstreaker reached out and touched Ratchet. "Thanks."

Ratchet understood. The twins had chosen him, had just tested him, and he had responded better than they'd hoped and he was still interested in them. Sunstreaker still had a little faith in his own species; Ratchet would have to live up to that faith and show them that there were still mechs that could be trusted with the secrets and lives of other mechs. He looked forward to the challenge.


End file.
